That was the thought that ran through my mind as the wind ripped across my back, and sent a shiver down to my bones, as if Mother Nature herself pummeled me with snowballs. The weather had been a bit warmer here in NYC, so I decided to jump into the NYCRUNS Cocoa Classic 5K in Riverside Park on a Saturday morning a few weekends ago. Well, warmer by winter standards as it had been in the 30’s and 40’s most of the week leading up to the race. I had no clue, as was the case with many of the other race participants I encountered, that the temps would take an overnight nose-dive into the teens. At race time it was 19 degrees, with a wind chill that made it feel half that. Also, considering it was already windy and the race course was in the park along the water, surely made for a mind-numbing frigid run. Thank goodness it was a sunny clear day out.

Holy crap, what the heck am I doing out here in 26 degree weather? I think I’ve made a huge mistake!

My slightly warped mind always seems to head back to that episode of Seinfeld. Whenever I am subjected to some pretty brutal weather conditions which makes my nether regions retreat up into my body like a turtle hiding in it’s shell. When it’s that cold outside in NYC, “shrinkage” is the appropriate reasoning for any gent trying to defend the rationale of “diminished manhood”!

When I started to pursue a running regimen, I had little clue as to where it would take me. I have always exclaimed that I am one of those who has a love/hate relationship with running. What started out as a challenge to myself and use it as a tool to burn calories and cut weight became an obsession. In less than two years, starting back in March of 2016, has culminated with me just completing my 30th official race event. Mostly 5K’s with some 4 and 5 mile races thrown in. Wow! I really never thought I would get this far, yet here I am, and I am not about to quit anytime soon.

First of all, I want to give a big shout out to all of my friends who ran in and completed the NYC Marathon last weekend. Quite an accomplishment. Well done!

Perhaps, this will be a future goal for myself as I progress with my running exploits. We will see!

I have been running 5K races since March of 2016 all around the NYC area, along with a few other cities I have jumped into while on vacation. At first, I had set out on a fitness goal to participate in maybe ten events. The running bug bit me and before I knew it by end of 2016 I was approaching 15 races. The crazy in me decided to keep going and now here I am looking to complete 30 races before end of 2018.